Helmina von Chézy
Helmina von Chézy (26 January 1783 – 28 January 1856), née Wilhelmine Christiane von Klencke, was a German journalist, poet and playwright. She is known for writing the libretto for Carl Maria von Weber's opera Euryanthe (1823) and the play Rosamunde, for which Franz Schubert composed incidental music.
Life
Helmina was born in Berlin, the daughter of Prussian officer Carl Friedrich von Klencke and his wife Caroline Louise von Klencke (1754–1802), daughter of Anna Louisa Karsch and herself a poet. The marriage of her parents had already broken up at her birth and she was partly raised by her grandmother. She started writing at the age of 14.
Married the first time in 1799, she divorced the next year and upon the death of her mother moved to Paris, where she worked as a correspondent for several German papers. From 1803 to 1807 she edited her own Französische Miszellen ("French Miscellanea") journal, commenting on political issues, which earned her trouble with the ubiquitous censors.
In Paris, she befriended
As her second marriage, too, turned out to be an unhappy one, Helmina finally parted from her husband in 1810. She returned to Germany, where she alternately lived in
From 1817, she lived in
In 1828/29, her son Max left to live with his father in Paris, which was a grievous blow, exceeded by the message of her husband's death in 1832 and the loss of her annual alimony payment. While Max returned to live with his mother in
Unsuccessfully trying to find another employment as a journalist in order to earn a bare living, she finally retired to Geneva, where she received a modest pension by an artists' charitable foundation. She was by now nearly blind and dependent on care by her niece Bertha Borngräber, who also recorded her memoirs which were revised by Karl August Varnhagen von Ense. She died in Geneva at the age of 73.
Published works
Helmina von Chézy's published works as cited by An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers.[1]: 244–245 A selection of her works follows.
- Geschichte der schönen und tugendsamen Euryanth, 1804.
- Leben und Kunst in Paris, 2 volumes, 1805-1807.
- Gedichte der Enkelin der Karschin, 2 volumes, 1812.
- Blumen in die Lorbeeren von Deutschlands Rettern gewunden, 1813.
- Die Silberlocke im Briefe, play 1815.
- Gemälte von Heidelberg, 1816.
- Taschenbuch für Reisende und Einheimische in Heidelberg, 1816.
- Emma, eine Geschichte, 1817.
- Neue auserlesene Schriften der Enkenlin der Karschin, 1817.
- Blumen der Liebe, 1818.
- Erzählungen und Novellen, 2 volumes, 1822.
- Euryanthe von Savoyen, 1823.
- Studenblumen, 3 volumes, 1824.
- Der Wunderquell. Eine dramatische Kleinigkeit, 1824.
- Jugendgeschichte, Leben und Ansichten eines papiernen Kragens, 1829.
- Herzenstöne aud Pilgerwegen, 1833.
- Norika. Neues und ausführliches Handbuch für Alpenwanderer und Reisende durch das Hochland und Österreich, 1833.
- Unvergessenes, 2 volumes, 1858.
Editorial work
- Französische Miscellen, 1803-1807.
- Leben und romantische Dichtungen der Tochter der Karschin works of Chézy's mother, Caroline v. Klencke, 1805.
- Aurikeln with autobiography, 1818.
- Altschottische Romanzen, 1818.
- Iduna. Schriften deutscher Frauen gewidmet den Frauen, 1820.
References
- ^ Wilson, Katharina M. (1991). An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc.
- This article uses material from the German version of Wikipedia
External links
- A selection of works by Chézy from the Sophie database
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